News

25 February 2014

Blackphone offers increased mobile privacy.

The latest gadget to offer its users privacy protection launched at Mobile World
Congress yesterday.

The
Blackphone is an Android-based mobile which encrypts texts, voice calls and
video chats. It aims to tap into the
market for so-called mobile security management (MSM) products, which was
estimated at $560m in 2013 and is expected to nearly double in size to $1bn a
year by 2015, according to ABI Research.

Deutsche
Telekom is also preparing to launch an app that encrypts voice and text
messages, making it the first major network operator with a mass
market-compatible product.

Edward
Snowden set off a global furore when he told newspapers last year the US was mining
the personal data of internet users.

The Blackphone, which chose Switzerland as its base because privacy there is
a constitutional right, is a tie-up between US security software company Silent Circle and
Spanish handset maker GeeksPhone.

“We
are aiming to sell hundreds of thousands of devices,” Blackphone managing
director Toby Weir-Jones told reporters.“This is a phone for everyone – whether you are an executive who likes
to bring his device to work or you are a privacy-minded citizen who just wants
to make sure that the internet is not looking over your shoulder.”

Everything
on the phone, from the web browser to the custom built operating system (called
PrivatOS) is encrypted, so if you deal with sensitive information (or if you’re
an international criminal !) this could be the phone for you.